Browsing Tag: Business Insider

Benji Jones: Wait, how zoomed-in are you? The internet is good for many things, but providing trusted
advice on natural remedies is definitely not one of them, especially when it comes
to apple cider vinegar. A quick Google search will show you that people use it for everything
from cleaning their teeth to curing yeast infections. So if people on the internet are doing it, it’s worth trying, right? Definitely wrong. Because not only is there little evidence to support most of the uses
for apple cider vinegar, but some of them are
straight-up bad for you. Apple cider vinegar is
basically just fermented juice. Yeast turns the sugars in
apple juice into alcohol, and bacteria then turns that alcohol into acetic acid, the chemical linked to most of cider vinegar’s alleged benefits. But here’s the thing: This process isn’t unique
to apple cider vinegar. In fact, acetic acid is
in all types of vinegar, from white wine to balsamic. The main thing that makes
cider vinegar different is that it might be easier to swallow than a straight-up swig of balsamic. And if you are so
inclined to gulp it down, there’s at least one benefit
you can look forward to. Research shows that drinking
cider vinegar after a meal may help lower your blood-sugar levels. Edwin McDonald: So studies
have demonstrated that when people eat a high-starch
meal and follow it with a little bit of apple cider vinegar, the blood sugars after eating those meals may not go up as much compared
to when you eat placebo. Jones: That’s doctor and
trained chef Edwin McDonald. He says that ingesting as little as 20 grams of apple cider vinegar has been shown to slow the release of food from your stomach into your intestines. That’s where your body breaks down starches like pasta into sugars, and as a result… McDonald: You’re not gonna
absorb those sugars as quickly. So when you don’t absorb
sugars as quickly, your insulin levels
really don’t rise as much, and your blood sugar doesn’t rise as much. Jones: And that’s great news for anyone who’s diabetic or pre-diabetic. Now, despite what you read online, it probably won’t help you lose weight. McDonald: I also run a
weight-management clinic, and this question comes up all the time. Jones: But lowering your blood
sugar after a meal is just about the only benefit of
drinking apple cider vinegar. Research does suggest that acetic acid can slow down the accumulation of body fat and prevent metabolic
disorders in mice and rats. But there’s little evidence that it has the same effect on humans. In one weight-loss
experiment, 30 volunteers drank two tablespoons of
either apple cider vinegar, malt vinegar, or a placebo drink, twice a day, for two months straight, and none of them lost weight. In an older study with a similar design, participants did lose weight, but only about a third
of a pound each week, which McDonald says isn’t much. But if not for weight loss, what about using cider
vinegar to whiten your teeth? McDonald: I caution people against that. Jones: That’s because
cider vinegar is an acid. In fact, most brands have a pH between 2 and 3, which is similar to stomach acid, so swishing it around in your mouth can over time wear down the
enamel around your teeth, leaving them feeling rough to the touch and more susceptible
to cavities and decay. Yikes. Then there are the people who use apple cider vinegar as
a shampoo replacement. And as it turns out, there’s actually a pretty good reason for that. Because cider vinegar is so
acidic, Dr. McDonald says it can kill some of the microbes
that make your hair stink, and it can also limit the population of a type of fungus that
can lead to dandruff. But there’s a flip side. Because cider vinegar is so acidic, it can also burn or irritate your scalp. So you should always dilute it with water. Oh, and despite what you read online, cider vinegar is not
effective against head lice. In fact, one study found
that among six home remedies that people use to eliminate lice, like olive oil and mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar is
the least effective. None of them worked though. The claims of what apple
cider vinegar can do don’t stop there. Just keep in mind that at
least for now, none of them is supported by a large
body of scientific research. Now, of course, we’re
not talking about taste. When it comes to cooking,
there’s no uncertainty: Apple cider vinegar is delicious. I use it all the time when making dressing, pickles, and sauces. Yes, I cook. I just don’t walk away from meals thinking I’ve just swallowed
some ultimate cure-all.

You’re all ready to make
the sandwich of your dreams. Turkey, tomato, and Swiss
on a bed of romaine lettuce sandwiched between two
slices of sourdough. Classic, but oh no! What’s this? Mold? Ugh. But look, good news, the mold’s
only on part of the bread so I could just cut that
away and be fine, right? There’s no such thing as a
clean part of moldy bread. That’s because mold is
a fungus like mushrooms. The caps on the surface
are easy enough to spot, but there’s a vast network
of subterranean roots called hyphae that you can’t see. So let’s take another look
at that bread of yours. Ugh, disgusting. Well, maybe you can
just grab another piece from the same loaf. Well, that’s not such a good idea, either. because by the time the
mold sprouts its fuzzy head, what you’re really seeing
is the reproductive part of the mold called sporangiums. Each sporangium releases
tens of thousands of spores, so even though you can’t
see it, that entire loaf could be teeming with fungus. But it seems like such a
waste to just throw it out. After all, you eat mold
on purpose all the time like the mold that goes into
making cheese, soy sauce, and even life-saving
antibiotics like penicillin. Eating a little bit on your
bread can’t be that bad, right? Well, ultimately, it’s a gamble. Just like eating a wild mushroom many are fine, but some can be deadly. Mold is the same way. There are thousands of
different species of mold many of which are harmless to humans. But since so many types
can sprout up on food, it’s nearly impossible to know if what you’re eating is safe. Cladosporium, for example, can
sometimes trigger allergies but is generally harmless, whereas other molds like
Penicillium crustosum produce harmful poisons called Mycotoxins. An elderly couple in 2005,
for example, was admitted to the hospital after eating a can of soup contaminated with this kind of mold. They had severe muscle tremors
but eventually recovered. But other molds, like
Rhizopus stolonifer, can have permanent effects, and you
might recognize this mold since it commonly grows on bread. Blue green with black
splotches and super fuzzy. In rare cases, it can
prompt a deadly infection called Zygomycosis, which
causes your blood to clot and can ultimately starve
your cells of oxygen to the point that they die. And it’s not like bacteria,
where a little heat will eliminate the threat,
because high temperatures won’t break down the Mycotoxins. And since you have no clue
which one you’re about to put in your mouth, ask yourself is it really worth the risk?

Near the turn of this century, scientist Georg Steinhauser had a problem. He was fascinated by the question: Why do some belly buttons
collect more lint than others? But no one knew the answer. So for three years he collected his own
belly-button lint to find out. And after interviewing friends and analyzing 503 of his own samples, Steinhauser discovered
the culprit: stomach hair. It scratches off tiny T-shirt fibers and directs them towards the belly button. So that might be one mystery solved, but lint isn’t the only thing inside these bizarre human crevices. Your belly button is a
scar, your very first one. It forms when a doctor
snips your umbilical cord, and, depending on how it heals, you could have an outie
or, more likely, an innie. And innies are ripe for colonization, not only by lint, hair,
and dead skin cells, but also by bacteria. In one study, 60 volunteers
swabbed their belly buttons. Researchers then analyzed the samples and found more than
2,300 kinds of bacteria. That’s an average of 67
different kinds per belly button. Now, many of those microbes
aren’t unique to belly buttons, like staphylococcus, which
can lead to staph infections. It shows up in noses, throats, hair, and, yes, even belly buttons. But the researchers also
discovered other bacteria never before seen on human skin, like marimonas, which scientists had previously only seen in the ocean. And they even found bacteria
that chefs use to make cheese, and, yes, somebody did exactly that. She grew the belly-button
bacteria in a petri dish and then added it to milk. Sure enough, after a few hours, the milk curdled into cheese. Belly-button Brie, anyone? Now, for the most part, the microbes in your navel are harmless. In fact, recent studies suggest that bacteria on your body may strengthen your skin’s defense system, but if you never clean your belly button, they’ll grow unencumbered,
and that can be a problem. The best-case scenario is that your belly button will start to smell. When common navel microbes, like corynebacterium, build up, they emit pungent odors,
similar to body odor. But the worst case is that
your navel will get infected, not just by staph but also by microbes that cause strep throat
and yeast infections. That’s right, you can
get a yeast infection in your belly button, which can
lead to itching and redness, and cause a clear or off-white
discharge to leak out, which almost looks like cottage cheese. So how does that cheese sound now? While microbes colonize your
belly button from the outside, there could also be an
invader from the inside. We’re talking about belly-button hernias. In the womb, the umbilical
cord runs from your mom to you, passing through an opening
in your abdominal muscles. Normally that opening
seals up after you’re born, but, in some cases, it never
really closes all the way. This can allow internal
organs to slip through, creating a bulge behind your belly button. Navel hernias affect as
many as one in five newborns in the US, but they’re
rarely life-threatening, and are far less common in adults. In fact, as long as you
rinse your belly button with warm, soapy water once a week, the worst you’ll have to put
up with is a little fluff.